Lance Armstrong reclaimed the yellow jersey with a mesmerising display of power which crushed all but a handful of his rivals on stage 10 of the Tour de France yesterday.

As has become traditional for Armstrong, the Texan used the first mountaintop finish of the `Grand Boucle' to stamp his authority on the peloton but, while it was predictable, it was no less impressive.

Only Iles Balears rider Alejandro Valverde was able to stay with Armstrong as far as the finishing line at the Courcheval ski resort and the young Spaniard was ushered through for his first stage win in the Tour.

Valverde was rewarded with a leap up the general classification from 72nd to fifth and on his way he passed most of the men who had been expected to challenge Armstrong in his attempt to win a seventh and final Tour.

T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich - 1997 winner and three-time runner-up - is now more than four minutes off the pace and Alexandre Vinokourov - third two years ago - will start today over six minutes adrift.

Meanwhile, Valverde's compatriots Roberto Heras and Iban Mayo are so far behind as to be inconsequential for the next week and a half.

Holland's Michael Rasmussen - Sunday's stage winner and currently in the King of the Mountains' polka-dot jersey - is second, 38 seconds behind Armstrong, while the Italian Team CSC rider Ivan Basso remains a threat just over two minutes further back in third.

Armstrong conceded it was a "great feeling" to be back in yellow and added: "The team was super, it's very reassuring for myself and we'll just keep it rolling and try to hold on to the jersey."

The 33-year-old's team were certainly rolling yesterday as they set a punishing pace at the front of the peloton from the moment they reached the foot of the Courcheval, where the road rises 22.2 kilometres at an average gradient of 6.2%. The casualties were not long in emerging with big names like Mayo, Heras, Bobby Julich and Santiago Botero spat out the back of the peloton even before the racing got serious.

Discovery were still motoring at the front with Armstrong looking strong, although Ullrich and Vinokourov were lurking on his wheel. As the American's team stepped up the speed, however, white patches began spreading around the eyes of both T-Mobile riders before first Vinokourov then Ullrich found themselves drifting away.

It seems an exhausted Vinokourov will do well just to get on the podium.